Senator Rand Paul, who is seriously considering running for President of the United States, told a conservative Christian audience today that, "There is a war on Christianity" being waged by "liberal elites' and "worldwide as well.

Read his remarks below, delivered at today's Faith and Freedom Coalition luncheon in DC. The organization's big "Road to Majority" event starts today and runs through Saturday. Jeb Bush, sarah Palin, Ted Cruz and many others are speaking in the next couple days.

Rand Paul has been actively courting the conservative Christian community for months. He took a trip to Israel which was organized by influential evangelical organizer David Lane and has been speaking to Christian audiences in key GOP Primary states. He will speak to hundreds of Iowa pastors next month in Des Moines. The Brody File also knows of plenty of private events he has done within the Christian community.

Rand Paul has quite a bit going for him if he makes a run. His libertarian views give him distinct crossover appeal but, in addition as a committed pro-life believer in Jesus Christ he can court evangelicals in a a way that doesn't look like pandering. Plus, he's super smart which not only gives the Tea Party more credibility as a movement but allows Paul to get a serious look from the shark-infested waters filled with mainstream media members. He should NOT be underestimated.

Senator Rand Paul's Remarks below:

Last year in Pakistan, 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by the Taliban for being a girl and for wanting to go to school.

If you haven’t seen the YouTube videow of Malala being interviewed on national television, speaking out for the education of girls, watch and you will be amazed at her poise and grace.

Malala never met the great Urdu poet Parveen Shakir, who grew up in Pakistan when women could become highly educated and even Prime Minister. This line from one of Shakir's poems reminds me of Malala:

"They insist upon evaluating the firefly in daylight. The children of our age, have grown clever."

Why would anyone want to kill this innocent young girl? Because Malala, in her young life, insisted on exposing the firefly to daylight.

Her "crime," as seen by the Taliban, is to believe in enlightenment, to believe that out of the darkness a flicker of tolerance can glow and grow to overcome ignorance.

Americans are seen by Pakistanis as infidels and invaders. We will not in a thousand years bring enlightenment to Pakistan, only Pakistan can do that.

When Pakistan begins to police Pakistan better, when girls who long for nothing but freedom and education are embraced -- rather than gunned down by murderous thugs -- then will progress finally be made.

My heart breaks for Malala and her family. It breaks for all those who suffer under violent oppression in the name of religion. It breaks for those who cannot grow up to be poets and teachers, but mostly it breaks for those who cannot speak without being gunned down by extremists.

I can only hope that the violence done to her will motivate those who believe in both Islam and peace and tolerance to stand unanimously and proclaim this violence does not represent them. That the Taliban does not represent them. That gunning down children in cold blood does not please their God.

The violence and intolerance against girls is also directed toward Christians. It saddens me to see countries that are supposedly our allies persecute Christians.

It angers me to see my tax dollars supporting regimes that put Christians to death for blasphemy against Islam, countries that put to death Muslims who convert to Christianity, and countries who imprison anyone who marries outside their religion.

There is a war on Christianity, not just from liberal elites here at home, but worldwide.

And your government, or more correctly, you, the taxpayer, are funding it.

You are being taxed to send money to countries that are not only intolerant of Christians but openly hostile. Christians are imprisoned and threatened with death for their beliefs.

In Pakistan, Asia Bibi, a Christian, sits on death row. Her crime, according to her, is that she dared to drink from a glass that belonged to a Muslim co-worker.

According to her co-workers, she insulted the Prophet. In our country, we refer to such quibbling as gossip. In Pakistan, if you are a Christian, it can land you on death row.

Recently, in Pakistan, a 12-year-old with Downs syndrome was imprisoned and charged with a death penalty crime for burning the Koran.

After weeks she was released after a local Imam was accused of actually sprinkling pages from an Arabic book into a fire near the little girl.

Dr. Shakil Afridi is not a Christian but his imprisonment by Pakistan is nonetheless an injustice. He was tortured and held without charge for nearly a year.

He was shackled with his hands behind his back for months and he was finally imprisoned, likely for the rest of his life for the crime of helping America get Bin Laden.

How do your leaders respond? 90 % of them voted against my bill that would have put restrictions on this aid.

My bill said that Libya, Egypt, and Pakistan would get no more foreign aid from the US taxpayer unless they turned over the assassins that killed our ambassador, pledged and verified that they CAN and WILL protect our embassies, and in the case of Pakistan they must release Dr. Afridi.

Overwhelmingly, I was voted down. Is it any wonder that Congress has a 10% approval rating? In Egypt, in Pakistan, they burn our flag—I say not one penny more to countries that burn the American flag!

Even when we’ve tried through good intentions to make the world a better place our actions have often backfired.

During the Iraq War, over a quarter-million Iraqi Christians fled Iraq. Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator but his government was secular and therefore relatively safe for Christians. Christians, however, feared the Shiite government that we helped put in place after Saddam, and they fled in droves.

Where did these Christians go? They headed mostly for Syria, joining the over one million Syrians who have lived as Christians since the time of Christ.

Now, the senate is attempting to arm the rebel forces in syria, many of whom are al quaeda or affiliates. they do so out of a miguided attempt to stop the violence in syria.

Instead their actions will bring more violence and more persecution of Christians, who have long been protected in Syria.

Before the Arab Spring, Christianity flourished in small outposts, like the Coptic Christians in Egypt. I had hoped that the Arab Spring would bring freedom to long-oppressed people throughout the Middle East, but I fear the Arab Spring is becoming an Arab winter.

Today, Christians in Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Syria are on the run—persecuted or under fire—and yet, we continue to send aid to the folks chasing them.

While they burn the American flag and the mobs chant Death to America, more of your money is sent to these haters of Christianity.

Even if all the atrocities to Christians were not occurring in these countries, we simply don’t have the money to engage in this foolishness. We must borrow the money from China to send it to Pakistan.

While American soldiers spent a decade fighting to liberate Iraq and while American taxpayers have sent roughly $470 million each year in aid, Christians in Iraq are the subjects of what Carl Moeller, president of Open Doors, describes as “religicide.”

Before the toppling of Saddam Hussein, Mosul, a city in Iraq, was home to some 75,000 Christians, but now the number has dropped to around 25,000.

Christian homes are set on fire, bombs are being placed in their cars and Christian families are receiving letters threatening them to leave Iraq or be kidnapped or killed.

American soldiers have also risked their lives for the sake of these countries liberation. Our young men and women have fought for a noble cause but the law of unintended consequences is an unforgiving one.

These countries are not our true allies and no amount of money will make them so. They are not allies of Israel and I fear one day our money and military arms that we have paid for will be used against Israel.

This fight has made me unpopular in Washington but I am willing to risk unpopularity with politicians to do what I am convinced is right.

The new leader of Egypt is Mohammed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. Recently, he stood by when a radical cleric said a prayer for the destruction of Israel and her supporters in his presence.

Actually, it is worse, he did not just stand by, he was seen to mouth the word “Amen” as the cleric said these words of hatred.

How does your government respond?

The bipartisan consensus in Washington vows to increase Egypt’s funding. The President is currently requesting a billion dollar increase in aid to Egypt.

This is an outrage! It is amazing that so many in Washington fail to see who the real enemies are. We should immediately stop sending F-16’s and tanks to Egypt!

It is clear that American taxpayer dollars are being used to enable a war on Christianity in the Middle East and I believe that must end.

When Pope John Paul II spoke about a “culture of death,” he talked about “a war of the powerful against the weak.”

As Christians, we know we must always stand with the most defenseless. I believe that no civilization can long endure that does not respect life from those not yet born to life’s last breath.

I am the sponsor of a life are conception act in the senate, and I will stand up for unborn children as long as I am privileged to be in office.

These days Christians are often unified in our defense of the not yet born but I exhort you to remember the 19-year-olds who are sent into battle.

War is not a game or a sport and any politician who speaks of pre-emptive war with gleeful bravado should not be leading any nation.

As we sit here, our brave troops risk their lives, serving our country with faithfulness and honor. They endure harsh conditions, loneliness and great danger. I pray for their safe return each day and I pray for an end to the war.

I can recall no utterance of Jesus in favor of war or any acts of aggression. In fact, his message to his disciples was one of non-resistance. I do not believe that means that we don’t defend ourselves.

I believe individuals and countries can and should defend themselves. But I simply can’t imagine Jesus at the head of any army of soldiers and I think as Christians we need to be wary of the doctrine of pre-emptive war.

We must and should stand with our fellow Christians in the Middle East and around the world—but that does not necessarily mean war and it certainly does not mean arming sides in every conflict.

Jesus, himself, reminds us of this in the Sermon on the Mount, when he proclaims, Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

Today, we have a culture that accepts the wanton disposal of millions of innocent children, and sends aid to countries that persecute Christians. . . . . I, for one, will not rest until this injustice ends.

As Christians, we understand that the right to life, and freedom of religion, pre-exist all government. These rights are not granted to man by other men, these rights are granted to us by our Creator.

God, help us in these troubling times to make wise decisions, to make moral decisions, and to listen to the voice of God that lives and breathes and resides in us all. Amen.

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

There goes my vote Randy

I will NOT vote for a religious proselytizer or live in a theocracy .

Libertarian is one thingpushing the xian tyranny we already have had since Jackson is quite another

My heritage is part Saxon and it is impossible that none of my were among those on the bloody field of verdun in 790 or died with smoke filled nostrils due to healing and caregiving to the ill or birthing women.

Because so many do not remember or ever knew history we are today a ruined people.

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

Let's now hear how he feels about drugs and the sex trade. Yes, cut off the aid to Egypt and Pakistan. No support for Syrian rebels either. We are broke. Fix the USA first. We may not be seeing the war on Christianity here, but in other countries it is real.

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

The biggest problem this country has is its pension to involve itself in every crises around the world. It would be nice to once see your so-called leaders stand back, take a breath, and stay out! We do not have nor did we ever have the money to finance our involvement in every war that comes around. The world took care of itself long before there was a United States and if things progress as they are going now, it will function quite well without any help from the USA in the future. It is time to keep our money home and spend it a lot more frugally.

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

If there is a war on Christianity, which I don't believe there is, then it is being perpetrated by European and American Christians. Christians today absolutely refuse to follow the Holy Word of God, and instead pick and choose which verses they will follow, and which verses they will ignore.

Christianity is a growing entity in Africa and China, by leaps and bounds. There are now more Christians in China than there are people in America.

This war on Christianity is just an excuse by people who are richer than 90% of the rest of the world and who find it too difficult to follow God's word.

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

Ellen, what GOD do you actually believe in??? With all the points made in the above article; with schools, military, businesses demanding that Christians say, show or do nothing that hints at belief in God while other " religions and beliefs are heartily endorsed. My thought is that your view of God and Jesus Christ are skewed.

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

Ellen, you can't name one time when "Christianity", a religion entirely based on peace by the very words of Jesus, has killed "millions". At most you can say some demented national leaders have killed in the name of Christianity. Now radical atheism in the form of Russian, Chinese, Cambodian, etc. Communism has killed hundreds of millions of people. And Islam from the words of its own founder, Muhammad, is a religion of war, destruction, and death. You obviously don't know what you are talking about, believer in God or not.

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

I am not sure why Christians always seem to be surprised about this Jesus told us we would have problems, not might but will. In America we have been blessed to avoid the real issues.....Just a friendly reminder....

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’[b] If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

To Ellen, honey you need to read some history. I don't know where you get your numbers but they are way off. To Sophia, you didn't read the article did you. He is not talking about starting a theocracy although that is going on in almost all countries in the Middle East and parts of Asia. Do you even know what a theocracy is? As for the war o Christianity. In many high schools ins this country there are rooms set aside for Muslims students to pray. But at the same time a Christian student is suspended for wearing a cross or God forbid carry a Bible. If you make fun of a Muslim or a Jew or a Buddhist you are insensitive. If you make fun of a Christian everyone just has a good laugh.

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

As a Jew I am no expert on the Christian faith but wanted to comment on a couple of statements the Senator made.

Sen. Paul said: "I can recall no utterance of Jesus in favor of war or any acts of aggression." Neither can I. Yet as far as I can tell from Luke 22:36, Jesus did appear to approve of his followers exercising self-defense, though not while he was with them to protect them. It seems to me a lot of pacifistic Christians miss out on this point.

And again, the Senator notes that: "I simply can’t imagine Jesus at the head of any army of soldiers..." How about Apocalypse 19:11-14?

As an aside: I applaud the senator's desires to not see Christians persecuted around the world and not see taxpayer dollars going to support it but I didn't read any specific comments about persecution against Jews in this article

I wonder if the Senator is familiar with Augustine's "Just War" theory?

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

"ANTI-Christ" does not get any greater then to CRUCIFY HIM, send agents (Saul of Tarsus and many others) to kill his followers, and then instigate POGROMS against the early Christians. Archeologists found the FIRST Christian church in a cave outside Jerusalem, where they hid for fear of being murdered. Judaism IS the ANTI-Christ. Jews absolutely despise Christ, calling him the bastard son of a Prostitute. Research the Jewish view of Jesus Christ. The Roman historian Dio Cassius said in the 2nd century A.D. that the Jews killed 220,000 Greeks in Cyrene and 240,000 in Cyprus.The ESSENCE of Judaism is vengence. The ESSENCE of CHRISTianity is forgiveness. Never the two can meet."Judeo-Christian" is an OXYMORON. WAR-God vs PEACE-God. The Old Testament followers worship a WAR GOD and spend their lives hating, reliving every imagined slight, and dreaming of VENGENCE ..... "NEVER FORGIVE and NEVER FORGET" .... they still go on about Egypt and Babylon after MILLENIA. New Testament follower

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

I'm with "texas58" on this.It wasn't Christians who killed mercilessly but men of evil who killed in the name of Christ. Communism and Islam have killed hundreds of millions worldwide.Christ prophesied that his followers would be persecuted in his name one day. Christ, being the son of God, was the true prophet...not Muhammad.

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

To stand against Rand is to stand against God. The vote count will be quite interesting in 2017. A clear for and against God distinction if you ask me. Thank God for Rand Paul. Finally, a candidate to stand behind.

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

All the anti-Rand commenters make me wonder if they actually read his words. He didn't advocate a theocracy. He spoke against sending money and arms to regimes that hate and persecute Christians. He didn't advocate pre-emptive war, only self-defense. This is the same thing Jesus told his disciples. "If you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one." Luke 22:36 Jesus knew it would be a dangerous world to walk in, even walking in love. We don't raise a military army, for Christ, because our enemies are not flesh and blood, but principalities, powers and rulers of darkness, and spiritual forces of evil in the invisible realms. We fight with the sword of the Spirit, the word. Angels, who listen to, and obey the word of the Lord, will fight for us. God will raise a military force of ten nations who will "take out" the Harlot of Babylon, who is stained with the blood of the saints. They will "bring her to ruin, strip her naked, consume her flesh, and burn her with fire." Rev 17:16

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

Islam is the Harlot of Babylon, who is guilty of shedding the blood of the saints, in Rev. 17. God will put together His "Coalition of the willing nations to deal with her. Christians will not be doing it "in Jesus' name."

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

God has a sense of humor, even though the subject of Christian persecution is not humorous. I say this because I had the privilege of sitting next to a Coptic Christian on a flight home from San Fransisco and he told me his personal story. I can assure you, Christians truly are being persectuted throughout the world. God sat that man and me side by side for that flight so I could hear his story and he could tell it. These are end times; buckle up.

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

First, I always find it amusing whenever the atheists come out of the woodwork to offer their predictable comments regarding "christian" crusades of 1000 years ago as if that is the norm for our current society. And liberals tell us conservatives we need to "evolve"? Rand is right. But this is nothing new. There has been a war on Christianity for a long time now. It all started in 1962 when prayer was removed from schools. The rest, as they say, is history.

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

greetings

pray alone and in the dark for the benefit of your lord not on the corner for the benefit of your neighbor the true measure of a christain is his action not his words, and as far as rand paul he wants to be president this is another of example of look at the monkey instead of the real prblems we face as a nation

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

There is no greater threat to Christianity than those who the Word of God named as 'enemies of the Gospel' for it is true that it is preferable to deal with someone that is obviously adversarial to your principles, i.e. Muslims, than to ally yourself with someone that claims kinship of principles, i.e. Jews, while their company slowly corrupts you over time with their lies as they have been doing ever since Christian scholars were duped by the into believing that Jewish Talmudic 'scholars' had anything to add.

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

Thank you Rand Paul for bringing to our attention specific actions against Christians. There are countless others we don't know about throughout the world. The God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament. He is just, holy, kind and loving. The Lord said this to good King Jehoshaphat when he helped evil Ahab, "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord and so bring wrath on yourself from the Lord?" 2 Chron 19:2 We also need to be careful about who we help to power.

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

Christians in the United States have had an easy go of it for the past two centuries or so, enjoying our comfortable lives to the point of sloth so that now many are being tossed about here and there by every wind of errant doctrine and also spiritual atrophy within our own churches where members refuse to bring sinning members under God ordained discipline for the purpose of repentance and restoration. Now the first embers of persecution begin to smolder here at home and we may soon yet see just who are the wheat is and who are the chaff.

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

Rand Paul refuses to divorce himself from the libertarian world view. Libertarians are social liberals and thus have no respect for Christians or Israel. No amount of pandering will convince me that Rand Paul is sincere.

If he actually ever says he's a conservative or a Christian and not a smug and arrogant libertarian I would reconsider. But he won't.

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

If the terror committed by evil men in the name of Christianity was really only a matter of evil men usurping Christianity as a cover for the crimes, why cannot the same claim be made for the deeds of the evil men who are committing terror in the name of Islam?

As far as Christianity itself is concerned , millions of people have indeed been slaughtered over issues such as whether God, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are co-equal or hierarchical (the Arian Heresy), the ownership of the Holy Land (the Crusades), whether people are genuine or bogus Roman Catholics (the Spanish Inquisition), and whether Roman Catholicism should be reformed (the various wars fought in Europe for more than three centuries between Roman Catholics and Protestants over modernizing the church and control of its properties). Christianity has more than fifteen hundred years of bloody history behind it. Some of it still springs up in bllody conflicts between Roman Catholics and Protestants in e.g. Northern Ireland.

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

President Obama and the Progressive Liberal Social it Democrat Party, in a war against all humanity in the name of Islam. The low information voters who have put him and his lackeys in charge are too ignorant and self absorbed to see the bleak future for the present one they exist in. Allahu akbar is his true rallying cry.

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

Well said! Problem is we have people who don't even know God in this country undermining and opposing acting according to and teaching the Bible. They are hung up on theocracy and a distorted notion of what separation of church and state is. Until we can stop the internal spiritual and moral rot, we won't be the force for good the world needs because our worldview will not be based on reality and our energies will be sapped by anti-Christian forces within our own nation. We have got to get back to teaching the Bible in schools and permitting the Judeo-Christian value system to be openly promoted in our country.

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

It is amazing to read the comments. Christians of 50 years ago would feel like I do: Rip Van Winkels in a world that has changed beyond comprehension. I do not even attempt rational discussion with "progressive" people today, including most who think they are Christiansliving in a fantasy comfort zone.

My great grandmother, a retired US obstetrician, living in the Sudatenland in 1938, found out the hard way: 7 years in Polish concentration camps then trapped behind the Iron Curtain & dying in poverty.

Many think they are sitting in the bleachers and wouldn't recognize reality until the lions leap the ring and start their "work" in the bleachers.

# RE: Rand Paul's Message To Evangelicals: "There is a war on Christianity"

Jesus became physically violent once. For me, it was an example and a most telling one at that.The "money-changers" in the Temple again. They must be removed. We are foolish to think that we can restore, repair, create, build and/or change the direction of our country or the world until they've been chased out.They are tenacious, insidious, crafty and brazen. Their removal requires great physical struggle on top of Spiritual Resolve.We are in a real fight but we must first focus on our true enemy, who they are, and what kind of control they excersize (they control our value with their paper money and we allow it). Like Jesus, we must say 'no more', first. Then uproot them and throw them out. They control our politicians, many churches and institutions, foundations etc. For starters, churches need to revoke their 501c3's and begin speaking out in earnest about the money-changers. Until that happens, everything else is just wishful thinking.